[Note: In an effort to keep our members informed as PSUFA enters collective bargaining negotiations, we will be publishing daily updates with observations about each session. On Tuesday, PSUFA presented 3 proposals related to pay parity, health care coverage, and compensation for late and cancelled course assignments. We proposed raising the minimum per credit pay so that it's equal to what a full-time non-tenure-track faculty receives for the same work. This included a pay increase aligned with faculty rank, (as our current adjunct ranks don't correlate to anything monetary) and a structure for cost of living increases. Regarding health insurance, our proposal was that adjunct faculty have access to an employer subsidized plan (similar to what is offered at PCC). And finally, PSUFA proposed increasing pay and timeframes for late contracts and course cancellations, making sure adjunct faculty get compensation if their contracts come less than 5 weeks before the start of the term and that they are compensated for prep time if a class is cancelled at the last minute.]
The nadir of a long, frustrating first day of negotiating came when a Portland State Dean thoughtfully explained to the PSUFA Bargaineers the institution for which we all work exists on a “hand to mouth” basis.
PSU's perpetual status as the ugly stepsister of those other schools aside, this is a phrase no one making six figures should ever utter in the company of adjuncts. Particularly moments after learning that a quarter of PSUFA members report living in households making less than $25,000 a year, and having heard the testimonies of a half dozen adjuncts about the difficulties they face gaining adequate health care, clarifying, to borrow the words of one PSUFA member, "The whole school food chain.” The bargaining team leaders politely but firmly stepped them back from this remark.
